My feeling on this is that most patients strive for a cure, to be fixed, or at least the closest thing. This is true of all levels of healthcare. Putting the efficacy of HSCT or Alemtuzumab to one side, there is also the mental satisfaction / reward of 'nipping it in the bud' 'fighting hard' 'moving on'. In contrast, maintenance therapy'…
My feeling on this is that most patients strive for a cure, to be fixed, or at least the closest thing. This is true of all levels of healthcare. Putting the efficacy of HSCT or Alemtuzumab to one side, there is also the mental satisfaction / reward of 'nipping it in the bud' 'fighting hard' 'moving on'. In contrast, maintenance therapy's serve as a constant reminder that the disease is lurking and you're merely keeping it at bay. That is my own experience (on Ocrevus) and one of the reasons i am seeking out an IRT currently - the others being the higher efficacy, potential for improvements, impact on smouldering MS of course. The difficulty for patients is the point in the disease course at which these decisions need to be made in order to be most effective. I imagine a lot of patients who pursue HSCT are scared into it by a nasty relapse or as a last throw of the dice. Maybe less so with Alemtuzumab as it doesn't have the fatality cloud hanging over it or the hair loss, which seems to be a marker for something being seriously wrong. It is much easier to push these decisions down the road......take the risks if you need to but often then it is too late. Not easy.
Totally how I feel, I'm on copaxone just to tide me by as I wanted to have another child and also because this was the only option given to me. To be honest once I have the little one and I am ready, I want to take the approach that is taken with Cancer, I want to fight hard at the start, while I am young and strong enough to handle it. I don't want to have to go through this post relapse when I am down and sad and not as strong.
Yes I weighed the risk in my mind when having Lemtrada which appeared to be a higher risk of side effects - with the rationale that I would accumulate a lot more potential risks on permanently having to imbibe a variety of less efficient drugs over the long term including all the drugs used to manage accumulated MS symptoms - so a cocktail of risks accumulating daily or a high risk but temporary drug like Lem. I think this is probably the far less risky over a lifetime with MS.
My feeling on this is that most patients strive for a cure, to be fixed, or at least the closest thing. This is true of all levels of healthcare. Putting the efficacy of HSCT or Alemtuzumab to one side, there is also the mental satisfaction / reward of 'nipping it in the bud' 'fighting hard' 'moving on'. In contrast, maintenance therapy's serve as a constant reminder that the disease is lurking and you're merely keeping it at bay. That is my own experience (on Ocrevus) and one of the reasons i am seeking out an IRT currently - the others being the higher efficacy, potential for improvements, impact on smouldering MS of course. The difficulty for patients is the point in the disease course at which these decisions need to be made in order to be most effective. I imagine a lot of patients who pursue HSCT are scared into it by a nasty relapse or as a last throw of the dice. Maybe less so with Alemtuzumab as it doesn't have the fatality cloud hanging over it or the hair loss, which seems to be a marker for something being seriously wrong. It is much easier to push these decisions down the road......take the risks if you need to but often then it is too late. Not easy.
Totally how I feel, I'm on copaxone just to tide me by as I wanted to have another child and also because this was the only option given to me. To be honest once I have the little one and I am ready, I want to take the approach that is taken with Cancer, I want to fight hard at the start, while I am young and strong enough to handle it. I don't want to have to go through this post relapse when I am down and sad and not as strong.
Yes I weighed the risk in my mind when having Lemtrada which appeared to be a higher risk of side effects - with the rationale that I would accumulate a lot more potential risks on permanently having to imbibe a variety of less efficient drugs over the long term including all the drugs used to manage accumulated MS symptoms - so a cocktail of risks accumulating daily or a high risk but temporary drug like Lem. I think this is probably the far less risky over a lifetime with MS.